Writer and World Traveler to Speak at UMO on August 25

Writer and World Traveler to Speak at UMO on August 25

MOUNT OLIVE-   The University of Mount Olive (UMO) welcomes renowned travel writer Rolf Potts on August 25.  At 12:30 p.m. in Rogers Chapel, Potts will speak about his adventures around the world.  The event is free and open to the public.

Potts has reported from more than 60 countries for the National Geographic Traveler, The New Yorker, Outside, the New York Times Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and the Travel Channel.  His adventures have taken him across six continents, and include piloting a fishing boat 900 miles down the Laotian Mekong river, hitchhiking across Eastern Europe, traversing Israel on foot, and bicycling across Burma.

Potts has several essays and books that promote the ethic of independent travel.  He has earned five Lowell Thomas Awards and he is the first American author to win Italy’s prestigious Chatwin Prize for travel writing.  His book, Vagabonding, has been through 21 printings and translated into several foreign languages.  His newest book is Marco Polo Didn’t Go There.

Though he rarely stays in one place for more than a few weeks or months, Potts feels somewhat at home in Bangkok, Cairo, Pusan, New York, New Orleans, and north-central Kansas, where he keeps a small farmhouse on 30 acres near his family. Each July he can be found in France, where he is the summer writer-in-residence and program director at the Paris American Academy.

Professor of History and Social Studies at UMO Dr. Alan Lamm says, “Potts is world famous.  He is an inspiration to those who love to travel and any aspiring writer.  I believe UMO is very fortunate to have Potts as a guest speaker.”

For more information about the event please contact Professor Lamm at alamm@umo.edu. To learn more about Potts and his work visit http://rolfpotts.com/.

The University of Mount Olive is a private institution rooted in the liberal arts tradition with defining Christian values. The University, sponsored by the Convention of Original Free Will Baptists, has locations in Mount Olive, New Bern, Wilmington, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, Research Triangle Park, Washington, Jacksonville, and in Smithfield at Johnston Community College.  For more information, visit old.umo.edu.